How CBI probe exposes adulterated ghee in 20 crore Tirumala laddus over five years

Tirumala: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the ghee adulteration case under the supervision of the CBI at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has revealed massive irregularities in the preparation of Sri Venkateswara Swamy laddus between 2019 and 2024, during the YSRCP regime.

Palm oil, palm kernel oil and other chemicals used

According to the findings, 20.01 crore Tirumala laddus were made using adulterated ghee, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the total 48.76 crore laddus produced in this period.

Investigators found that palm oil, palm kernel oil and other chemical substances were mixed and supplied as ghee to the TTD.

TTD paid Rs 250 crore for 68 lakh kg adulterated ghee

The SIT reported that the then TTD Board of Trustees paid Rs 250 crore to four dairies — Bhole Baba Dairy (Uttarakhand), AR Dairy (Dindigul, Tamil Nadu), Vaishnavi Dairy (Punabaka, Tirupati district), and Malganga Dairy (Uttar Pradesh) — for ghee supplies.

Of the 1.61 crore kg of ghee procured, 68 lakh kg was found to be adulterated.

According to the investigators, on average, 3.5–4 lakh laddus are prepared daily at the Srivari Temple, requiring 12,000–13,000 kg of ghee. SIT officials stated that throughout the five-year period, around 40 per cent of the ghee used daily was adulterated.

The investigation further alleged that the then TTD Board of Trustees and officials under the YSRCP government colluded with suppliers to enable large-scale corruption. The SIT observed that adulterated ghee laddus were knowingly distributed to devotees, causing deep hurt to religious sentiments.

Officials added that more irregularities committed during the previous administration at Tirumala are expected to surface as the investigation progresses

Recently, SIT has arrested Delhi-based chemical trader Ajay Kumar Sugandha, named A-16 in the case, who was accused of supplying chemicals used for preparing adulterated ghee linked to the Bhole Baba Dairy network. He disclosed major details of the ghee supply.

When did the case start?

The controversy started in September 2024 when Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu alleged that the TTD laddus were adulterated with animal fat under the previous regime.

An SIT was then formed under direction from the court, and began examining procurement records, supply chains and quality-testing methods for the ghee used by TTD.

What are the findings?

1. Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain, Directors of Bhole Baba Oroganic Dairy Milk Private Limited, without procuring the milk, prepared the adulterated ghee at their plant at Bhagwanpur, near Roorkee, Uttarakhand, by mixing the adulterants like palm oil, palm kernel Oil and palmolein

2. The dairy in Uttarakhand never procured a drop of milk or butter from anywhere but managed to supply 68 lakh kg of ghee worth Rs 250 crore to the TTD.

3. As part of a conspiracy, Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain supplied the said adulterated ghee to the TTD through their company Bhole Baba Oroganic Dairy Milk, and also through Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialties near Srikalahasti, Malganga Milk and Agro Products Private Limited, near Pune and AR Dairy Food, Dindigul, Tamilnadu, was used for the preparation of sacred prasadams of Lord Sri Venkateswara Swamy, which hurt the religious sentiments of crores of devotees.

4. The CBI probe stated that four containers of ghee stocks adulterated with animal fat allegedly supplied by AR dairy and subsequently rejected by the TTD in July last year were supplied back to the Tirupati trust.

5. The rejected four ghee tankers never returned to the AR dairy plant but were diverted to a local stone crushing unit located close to Vyshnavi dairy plant.

4. The dairy promoters set up a fake ghee manufacturing unit and forged milk procurement and payment records.

What does the remand report say?

1. Ajay Kumar had allegedly supplied monoglycerides, acetic acid and esters, chemicals used to make palm oil, to Bhole Baba Dairy directors Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain for nearly seven years.

2. The chemicals, imported from South Korea by a major distributor in Delhi, were purchased by Ajay Kumar in the name of his company and supplied to the dairy.

3. The ghee made using these chemicals was reportedly supplied to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) under the brand names Vaishtavi and AR Dairy.

4. More than 90 per cent of the ghee used in laddu preparation had been mixed with palm oil.

5. The promoters had set up a shell unit solely to supply spurious ghee worth Rs 250 crore to the TTD during the period.

6. Bhole Baba Dairy procured acetic acid ester worth Rs 7 crore from Ajay Sugandh between 2022 and 2024 alone.

7. YV Subba Reddy worked as Chairman, TTD from 2019 to 2023. While he was working as Chairman, TTD, on May 16, 2022, he handed over an anonymous complaint against Bhole Baba Oroganic Dairy Milk to RSSVR Subrahmanyam, GM Procurement, TTD at Tirumala for enquiry.

How did the adulteration continue?

In 2022, when RVSSR Subramanyam, then GM (P) met Subba Reddy, then Chairman, TTD, at the Chairman’s camp office, Tirumala, instructed to send the supply samples of cow Ghee to the CFTRI Lab for testing purposes and appraise the result.

Accordingly, ghee samples were drawn from the ghee tankers of Premier Agri Foods, Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities Private Limited and Bhole Baba Oroganic Dairy Milk and from the tins supplied by Bhole Baba and forwarded to CFTRI, Mysore during June 2022.

The test reports of CFTRI received by TTD during August 2022 revealed that all the ghee samples were adulterated with vegetable oil as per Beta Sitosterol test, but no action was taken against the said ghee suppliers, even after appraising him about the said test results, instead allowed Premier Agri Foods and Vyshanavi Dairy Specialties to continue to supply ghee to TTD till 2024 and also allowed Bhole Baba to continue supply of ghee till October, 2022.

In 2022, Pomil Jain (A-3), Director of Bhole Baba, Kailash Chand Mangla and PP Srinivasan met Subba Reddy at his camp office-cum-residence at Hyderabad. During the meeting, Pomil Jain complained about the demand of Rs 25 per kg ghee by Kaduru Chinnappanna, PA to YV Subba Reddy and requested the Chairman not to conduct an inspection of his plant within a year.

During the investigation, it was revealed that Premier Agri Foods was a supplier of ghee to TTD. Further, Kaduru Chinnappanna, PA to then Chairman TTD YV Subba Reddy, had received cash amounting to Rs 20 lakh (approx.) on different occasions near Patel Nagar, Metro Station, New Delhi from Aman Gupta, who is a Hawala Agent representing Premier Agri Foods. Similarly, Kaduru Chinnappanna received cash amounting to Rs 30 lakh (approx.) on different occasions at Delhi from Vijay Gupta, Manager representing Premier Agri Foods.